Rollins a Comparative Bargain for the Phils
In recent years, it has become a trend in baseball to lock up players to long-term contracts just as they are becoming eligible for free-agency or arbitration. Theoretically, it is supposed to be a win-win for each side — the player gets significant financial security sooner than he would otherwise and in most cases, the teams save money because the player, in return for the financial security is willing to sign for less money than he would get on the open market.
In June of 2005, Jimmy Rollins was playing under a one-year contract he received under arbitration. Hoping to lock Rollins up for the long-haul, then-GM Ed Wade agreed to a five-year, $40 million dollar deal. Undoubtedly, the two sides used the free-agent signings of several shortstops such as Orlando Cabrera (Angels, 4 years, $32 million) and Edgar Renteria (Red Sox, 4 years, $40 million) as precedents and benchmarks. Below is the offensive performance by those two plus Rollins since the start of the 2005 season through Thursday:
OPS HR SB-CS R J-Roll .805 46 74 274 Cabrera .706 18 47 186 Renteria .773 26 17 226
Offensively speaking, it’s impossible to deny that Rollins has provided the better value among those shortstops. Defense is much harder to judge, but if Rollins ranks behind Cabrera and Renteria, it certainly isn’t by the same margin he ranks ahead of them when it comes to offense.
Ed Wade saddled the Phillies with a lot of cumbersome and rigid contracts, but fortunately, Jimmy Rollins’ wasn’t one of them.
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Posted on May 12, 2007 by Tom | Filed Under Phillies, Philly Sports
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